North East venues get emergency funding boost
Culture and performing arts venues, such as the Tivoli and her majesty's theatre, are sharing £1,227,424.
17 Culture and performing arts venues in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire have been boosted with emergency Covid-19 funding.
The Tivoli, His Majesty's Theatre and the Music Hall are among those benefiting from a share of £1,227,424.
That's a piece of £17 Million total given out to similar businesses across the country from the Scottish Government.
Those benefiting range from comedy clubs, to theatres to galleries.
Caroline Morgan, Managing Director at Aberdeen’s Tivoli Theatre commented: “This money will mean we can retain our current staff, recruit part time staff, bring our freelance technicians back to work and undertake all necessary requirements to reopen in a safe way at the end of August.
“We’re full steam ahead now with testing equipment, organising staff training, first aid training, implementing a new app for ordering and setting up hand-held scanners for ticketing and deep cleaning the building. We’ll also be able to support local youth groups who perform with us who have also had a really tough time of it. This funding is a life-line having been closed with no income for 17 months.”
Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “I am delighted that this vital funding is reaching the culture sector, which has endured some of the most challenging restrictions over the past 18 months. It’s exciting that the sector can now plan for full reopening. The communal experience of being part of an audience cannot be replicated, and it has been sorely missed since the start of the pandemic.
“The move beyond level 0 will allow the sector to reopen fully, but I know that it will take some time to rebuild. This funding will play a key role in stabilising many venues and businesses as the sector begins to recover.
“The Scottish Government has provided almost £175million of emergency support to the culture, heritage and events sector since the start of the pandemic, and I look forward now to working with the sectors to build for the future.”